SQL Agent Service will not start - timeout error

SQL Server Administration
1

Hi experts,
I have a 2012 Standard instance where the agent service will not start.
I have confirmed that the AD account/service account and password being used are valid.
Examining the Event logs and SQL logs does not reveal much help.
The error given when I try to start the Agent is:

"Unable to start service SQLSERVERAGENT.
Service request timeout." 120,000 miliseconds

Any ideas on things to try?
Thanks

2

When you say "Event Logs" and "SQL Logs" are you just talking about the Windows Event Viewer and SQL Server ERRORLOG files?

There's a separate SQLAgent errorlog as well, if you haven't looked at that yet. I've almost always found the source of the error there. Typically it's some permission problem.

1 Like
3

Thanks @robert_volk . That's right, I'm looking at Event Viewer and SQL Server errorlog files.
When I open Agent logs I see that the agent has not ran since 2015!

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4

Neither have I.

1 Like
5

First things first - can you verify this is actually standard edition and not express edition?
Second - review configuration options and make sure the agent configuration is enabled.

EXECUTE sp_configure @configname = 'show advanced options', @configvalue = 1; RECONFIGURE;
EXECUTE sp_configure @configname = 'Agent XPs';
EXECUTE sp_configure @configname = 'show advanced options', @configvalue = 0; RECONFIGURE;

Based on the log - it looks like someone disabled the Agent XP's - which forced a stop on the agent and now it cannot run until they have been enabled.

6

Thanks for the questions, @jeffw8713 .
Yes it is the Standard Edition. I can view the jobs even the last date each job ran
The agent is configured to run:

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I'm absolutely out of ideas.